Bob Dankquist, 67, once the proud publisher of Utah Now & Then, was arrested Friday afternoon after attempting — and spectacularly failing — to rob a High Desert Bank branch on Wasatch Boulevard. His motive? To save the free local magazine he had dedicated his life to, and which, despite its popularity, was financially strangled by a generation addicted to “free content” and influencer marketing.
“I just wanted to keep it going,” Bob reportedly told police. “Thirty years of building something Utahns loved — and I couldn’t even get a dollar out of them.”
For decades, Utah Now & Then had been a beloved fixture on coffee shop counters and dentist office tables, filled with stories celebrating Utah’s quirky history, local artists, and mom-and-pop shops. Dankquist received daily emails from readers praising the publication as “a gem” and “the only magazine I actually read.”…